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No fuel sheen or sign that ship hull is breached

Published on NewsOK
Modified: January 2, 2013 at 12:01 am •
Published: January 1, 2013

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Crews aboard two aircraft flew over an oil drilling ship Tuesday that went aground in a severe Alaska storm and saw no sign that the vessel was leaking fuel or that its hull had been breached.

In this photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, the mobile drilling unit Kulluk is towed by the tugs Aiviq and Nanuq in 29 mph winds and 20-foot seas 116 miles southwest of Kodiak City, Alaska, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012. The crews remain stationed with the drill rig Kulluk Sunday 20 miles from Alaska's Kodiak Island as they wait in rough seas for another tug boat to arrive. The Coast Guard says the goal is to tow the Kulluk to a safe harbor and determine the next step. (AP Photo/U.S Coast Guard, Chris Usher)

The Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig used this summer in the Arctic was aground off a small island near Kodiak Island, where the ship, the Kulluk, appeared stable, said federal on-scene response coordinator Capt. Paul Mehler.

"There is no sign of a release of any product," Mehler said during a news conference at unified command center at an Anchorage hotel.

When the storm eases and weather permits, the plan is to get marine experts onboard the Kulluk to take photos and videos, and then come up with a more complete salvage plan.

The rig ran aground Monday on a sand and gravel shore off an uninhabited island in the Gulf of Alaska.

Mehler said the Kulluk is carrying about 143,000 gallons of diesel and about 12,000 gallons of lube oil and hydraulic fluid.

A Coast Guard C-130 plane and a helicopter were used to fly over the grounded vessel on Tuesday morning. The severe weather did not permit putting the marine experts on board the drilling rig, which is near shore and being pounded by stormy seas.

Mehler said there was a team of about 500 people working on a response to the situation "with many more coming."

The goal remains to get salvagers aboard the Kulluk and the ship refloated, he said.

A Shell official said the drilling rig was built with a double-sided hull of reinforced steel that is 3 inches thick. It recently had undergone $292 million in improvements before being put into service for a short time this past summer in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska's north coast.

Stormy weather eased Tuesday with waves 25 to 30 feet and winds reduced to about 35 mph. Winds were 70 mph and waves had reached 50 feet overnight, the National Weather Service said.